A Hero's Sacrifice
by Icarus Lowelle
Summary: Pertemis. Artemis fell in love with Percy, but he's with Annabeth. Annabeth dies in a mysterious event, and Artemis is there to fill the hole left in Percy's heart. What will happen when Percy is needed by the gods for another war?(Formally known as "Her First True Love") Darker!Percy. Hestia's Champion!Percy
1. Chapter 1

**AN: First fanfiction, I barely write stories and this is very rough, looking for a beta. Please enjoy. (Changed Title, formally known as "Her First True Love", Also changed the summary and my pen name. Formally known as "AchillesHeelArtemis". I will PM anyone who wants to know why I changed my name)**

Percy woke up in the familiar bunk bed inside of the room that he is always alone in, It's been months since he has last went outside of camp, his mom was busy outside he can hear the sounds of the wind pushing against the trees, lightning cracking as if Zeus was unleashing a whip. Rain was hitting the roof of his cabin creating an atmosphere of despair. Percy sat up on his bed, his ears were ringing and his eyes were feeling heavy. I could use some more sleep he thought to himself as he slowly began to lay in his bed once more.

 **CRACK**. The sound of lightning striking something within the camp caused Percy to bolt upright in his bed, he was no longer feeling drowsy. The distant sound of campers shouting and screaming was enough to make Percy get out of bed. He reached into his pocket to find the comforting feeling of a pen in his pocket. He opened the door and started to run towards the commotion, the camp was filled with a thick, grey smoke that burned the back of his throat every time he took a breath in, his eyes stung and felt an incredible amount of heat coming from in front of him. Percy closed his eyes and started to concentrate. Slowly he willed whatever moisture was left in the air to push away the smoke, allowing the campers to see what the problem was.

As the smoke began to dissipate, Percy was grateful that his eyes stopped stinging, the air started to feel smoother to breathe in, no longer the harsh burning sensation, but as Percy was about to smile for avoiding the crysis, the real one emerged in front of his eyes. One of the cabins was engulfed in flames, but what was odd was that the flames were black as the night sky, the heat radiating from them was so immense that he was grateful that the sea flowed within his veins, otherwise he wouldn't be too sure that he would be able to even be within 10 feet of the flames. "Evacuate everybody from the cabin that you can!" yelled a camper, a son of Apollo Percy would guess because of his messy sandy blonde hair.

Closing his eyes once more, Percy willed the nearby beach to rise, he quickly submerged the cabin with the water. He was shocked to find that it had no effect on the fire, the black flames still burned and spread throughout the cabin, soon the cabin collapsed to the ground, trapping everyone inside. The former cabin now formed a bonfire on the ground, the black flames burned so high that it seemed to even be touching the stars above. Percy had to think quickly, he knew that the people inside stood no chance if the flames weren't put out soon. Percy once more attempted to put out the flames, he concentrated on all the water he could sense, a large portion of the sea was now on the flames, the rain seemed to focus primarily on the bonfire of black flames, a sphere of water now submerged the flames. The campers were watching in awe, the sphere created by Percy could have easily been mistaken for a moon, the water shined bright, even with the storm going on, The awe quickly turned to shock though, as under the sphere of water the black flames rose even higher, the heat was unbearable as Percy was quickly forced to retreat, suffering burns from just being within the general area of the fire. Percy looked around, seeing if any of the other cabins caught the flames, he sighed in relief as he saw that this was an isolated incident,

His heart quickly dropped though, as he saw that the cabin that became a feeding ground for these odd black flames was the Athena cabin.

A blood curdling scream was heard from the fire, as Percy saw the wood start to lift off, within the pile of burning wood was someone who made their last stand, an effort to live. The camper no longer had hair, the clothing they wore was completely engulfed in black flames, quickly these flames engulfed the rest of their body, the camper continued to scream, even as Percy made an attempt to save them by submerging them under water, the flames still burned hot though, the water seemed to have no effect as the flames continued to spread all over the body of the camper. The camper opened their eyes and locked them with Percy's. Sharp grey eyes made contact with the soft green eyes.

Percy has seen many things in his life, but this was different. In front of him was a camper who was truly fighting for their lives in front of him, and no matter what Percy did, he was unable to save them. Soon the camper stopped screaming, their movements stopped abruptly, Percy knew that this person was no longer with them. He turned away and closed his eyes, he was completely useless when it came to saving this person. The sphere of water that this person was in dropped to the ground, the campers body soon following. Laying face down and the flame still burning, Percy was forced to do nothing about it. "Percy, get over here!" yelled a familiar voice, he turned to see Nico who was sweating profusely, his arm was severely burned and beside him was another camper who seemed to be engulfed in the black flames. Together, the two ran off towards the big house, the general consensus in the camp was to let the flames burn out, and then judge the after effects.

Inside the big house Chiron was standing and talking some of the other cabin leaders, Clarisse La Rue was there talking to Will Solace, Will was looking grave as he saw the burns of some of the knew that there were going to be little survivors, if any. "Nico, happened?" Percy asked, his voice quivering, all the cabin leaders stopped talking, their attention was on the Percy, the legend of Camp Half-blood, throughout the years that they have known him, they knew that he wasn't one to be afraid, facing Kronos he was brave and strong, facing the giants and Gaia he was still the same old knucklehead who joked around, even when he fell into Tartarus he still kept a positive outlook. The leaders soon realized why he was shaken up, the reasons why he was able to do that was because he had something to keep him alive, not physically, Percy would have lived no matter what regardless, but he wouldn't truly be alive. What kept him alive was the one he loved, Annabeth, who was missing from the meeting.

"Percy.. I'm so sorry, I saw the flames and rushed in to try to save whoever I could" Nico replied, his voice quivering, "Inside the cabin.. The fire started from the inside, everybody was on fire". The memories started to flood Nico's memory, causing him to close his eyes and turn away. He took a deep breath and continued the story. "I grabbed someone near me and shadow travelled out, thinking that the rain would help put out the fire and save this person. That black flame… it isn't anything I've ever seen before, the rain had no effect on it and when it caught onto me, it burned through my jacket, and deep into my arm". The cabin leaders around them took this information in silence, their minds processing what happened. Chiron's eyes showed sorrow, even though nothing was confirmed, they all agreed. They have lost every child of Athena that day. Today would be a day that would be remembered in all of Camp Half-blood history, a day that every child that Athena had, died. And the day that Percy Jackson first cried.

Percy woke up in his cabin, everything felt slow to him, his eyes were feeling crusty, there was a slight ringing in his ears, every noise followed by a slight echoing effect. His body felt heavy. With a formidal effort he got out of bed, it's been 4 days since the black flames attacked, and 4 days since he lost the love of his life. He closed his eyes, the memories he shared with Annabeth was all meaningless, everything that he has built with her, gone within an instance. He opens his eyes, his eyes shining with strength. He grabs black hoodie and puts up the hood, reaches into his pocket and feels the comforting feeling of Riptide, it was radiating an aura as if it were saying _everything is going to be alright Percy, everything heals with time_.

Percy walked to the dining hall, all the campers were avoiding him, giving him some space for which he appreciates. He knew that he wouldn't be strong enough to be able to keep up a conversation with someone, Camp Half-blood was just a big reminder of her. Percy remembered his first day at camp, he remembered the pain that he felt when he thought he lost his mother, but what kept him going was knowing that he was with people who was the same as him. He remembered Annabeth's first words to him clearly, _you drool in your sleep_ , he smiled, compared to now, his life used to be so simple. All these memories, slowly burning as he knew that he could not create any more with her. Camp Half-blood was beginning to no longer feel like his home. He made up his mind, He grabbed what he believed were valuable to him, which wasn't much, that day he left Camp Half-blood with Riptide, the camp necklace, and the clothing that he had on his back.

Percy began to walk towards the camp boarder, he took a look back and took one last long look of the place that he used to call home. The trees were turning a purple-red colour this time of year, the soft wind blew through the trees causing them to bend ever so slightly. The scene was awfully peaceful considering what has happened within the past few days. The campers seem to be unaffected though, the black flames burned the Athena cabin along with everything in it into ashes, including the campers inside the cabin. The campers removed the ashes, and began reconstruction, not a thought of what they meant. Deep down Percy wished that the campers would have kept the ashes, a remembrance of all those who have lost their lives. The thought of Annabeth being forgotten in the soon future caused Percy's eyes to sadden again, he would have to hold on to her memory, even if he became the last one to do so.

 **4 Months later  
**

On Olympus, Zeus called the council to gather, quicky, one by one all the Olympians began to fill the room, once everybody appeared Zeus cleared his throat. "Percy Jackson is still missing, but with all the children of Athena showing up at Camp Half-blood is it safe to assume that Percy is the one who has been saving them?" Zeus asked, addressing the topic of what the council meeting was going to be about. Artemis frowned, she understood that Percy was a male who was to be respected, she understood that he deserved all the peace he can get, but to be selfless like this? Helping Athena rebuild her legacy. No male in all of history has shown this type of selflessness. Artemis looked up to Athena, Athena seemed as if she hasn't been able to sleep, her neat hair was now in a mess, standing up and curled in places where they shouldn't, her sharp grey eyes were now a dull grey, nearly losing all of their light. It was heart wrenching to see someone who was so great and respected, to be in shambles. This was without a doubt the worst that Athena has been since the start of civilization. Artemis felt for her though, she believed that if her hunters had suffered a fate the same as Athena's children, Artemis would be in shambles, she nearly lost her path when Zoe died, she couldn't imagine what would happen if she lost all of her hunters within one night, and that she would be powerless to save them as Percy was. "I've been searching in my chariot father, I haven't seen him, it's like he doesn't want to be found" Apollo replied to Zeus, his brows scrunched up as he was concentrating. "It's as if he doesn't want to be found" Apollo finally concluded. This caused the council to erupt in a storm of whispers, why wouldn't Percy Jackson, Hero of Olympus and savior of the world, not want to be found? "Please quiet down, Artemis, I hope your search for Perseus is producing better results". Here it was, the time Artemis was dreading, she hated to admit that somebody was able to evade the hunters, much less a man. She knew that she had to swallow her pride. "Sadly Father, the hunters and I weren't able to even find evidence that Perseus is even alive during the last 4 months", with her final words a grumble was heard from Poseidon, Artemis cursed herself, she may not have had any children, but she understood greif. "Perseus is alive, I know he is" Poseidon said, sorrowing dripping from his voice. He didn't look any better than Athena, his pride and joy was missing, and Artemis basically told everyone that he was more than likely dead. A soft whispered was heard within the council room,, "Please repeat that Hestia, you should know to be louder" Hades said soothingly.

"Oh, what I said is that Perseus is alive" Hestia said airily, she smiled and turn around, continuing to tend the hearth. The silence was deafening, the crackles of the flames growing louder and louder as the goddess poke around. "And how did you come by this information?" Zeus questioned, his eyebrows raised and a look of bewilderment stuck on his face. Hestia turned around once more, addressing the council, she smiled and in the same airy voice "I would know as he is my champion, I gave him my blessing and told him to start saving the children of Athena". Hestia's smile widened. Silence ensued once more. The shocked expression was shared with all the Olympians, "And why.. Did you decide to hold this information back from us?" Zeus asked in a low voice, he held his head down while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Oh, none of you guys asked and I didn't know that you guys assumed that Percy died" Hestia replied, her smile never wavering. "He doesn't want to be found, I gave him my blessing because I wanted him to know that fire may be able to cause destruction, but it is also the light in the dark".

A sound was heard from Poseidon, a soft grumble until he was unable to keep up his act. He soon started to break down and fall into hard sobs, his pride and joy, his prized child, was safe and sound. Athena cracked a smile, the first time in months, knowing that her daughter's boyfriend was still alive, and making an effort to make sure that Athena doesn't fall into another state of depression. Artemis felt a pang within her, something deep inside her told her that she was happy that Perseus… no, Percy was alive and well.

Apollo started to chuckle, it was low and quiet at the start but it progressed into full blown laughter, Hermes soon followed suit, the laughter was contagious as everybody got the message, Percy was safe, and he was rebuilding what was lost. "Artemis, please, find my son. I just want to see him again" Poseidon said in between tears. Artemis understood, "I promise you I'll find him" She replied, a smile on her face. She was going to see Percy again.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hey, would you guys rather longer chapters or shorter chapters? Also, my characters are OOC, because I hate life. Thanks for reading**

Artemis flashed away from the council meeting with her heart beating, she was in the forest that she and the hunt decided to spend the next few days while they await instructions. She looked around, the southing sight of nature causing her heart slowdown. She took a deep breath and inhaled the air, the smell of evergreen trees filled her and finally she stopped panicking. Artemis didn't understand these feelings that she had, she was excited that they were assigned to find Percy, she wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was grateful that he was willing to take the sky off of her. She frowned at the thoughts that she was having. She was Artemis, a women that was sworn off of men. _This isn't just any man though_ she thought to herself, _this is Percy Jackson_. She slumped against a tree, the cool evening air was refreshing. _How am I going to explain this to the hunt?_ Artemis thought to herself, she knew that the hunt wasn't going to like being assigned to find a man, regardless of who he was. To them, boys were boys. She was going to have a hard time to tell them not to kill him, he was needed.

Artemis walked to where their camp was located, the cool air was filled with the scent of burning wood. The hunt has just finished preparing dinner and were waiting for their mistress before they began eating.

"Lady Artemis!" Thalia said, she stood up from her place at the dinner table and rushed over to hug Artemis. Artemis grunted as a flash of black hair suddenly tackled her to the ground, she frowned, she wasn't gone for that long.

"Don't get me wrong Thalia, I missed you too, but why are you acting quite weirdly?" Artemis asked, something didn't feel right the atmosphere felt tense, the hunters seem as if they were afraid of something.

"There was an aura that came not too long ago, we weren't sure what to do. We knew that we weren't strong enough to engage in battle against this… thing" Thalia replied, her voice was quiet and started to waver. This wasn't like the Thalia Artemis knew, the Thalia that she knew was strong, and overly confident. Artemis closed to her eyes and attempted to concentrate on the aura, she took a deep breath and she finally felt it. The aura felt dark and evil, as if Kronos himself was back, the aura seemed to seek out destruction and nothing else. Artemis furrowed her brows.

"I know what you are saying, but we can't do anything about it. We're told by the council to search for Perseus Jackson, perhaps we can drop by and alert Chiron about this, he can send a quest to figure out what is happening" Artemis finally said. The hunters were confused, how come they were being sent on finding Percy? They wanted nothing to do with men, even if that man was Percy.

"My lady, must we really?" a hunter said bitterly, Artemis didn't have to ask why, the message was clear. Why was the hunt being told to chase after a man. Artemis hesitated, she had to word this properly, otherwise they would be suspicious.

"We must, Percy has been very useful to the gods, he was just revealed to be alive. Father has said that we must find him. We have another war coming, something powerful that even us Olympians may not be able to handle without him" Artemis stated, Phoebe frowned, "My lady, why did you call him Percy?".

 _Damn it, I shouldn't have let that slip_ Artemis cursed.

"Because most of you know him by that. Even though he may be a boy, he is the best there is" Artemis said, smiling unconvincingly. The hunters were becoming weary, they knew that Artemis couldn't fall in love, but she was acting odd when it came to the topic of Percy.

"Don't think too hard on it, it means nothing, Go catch some rest, we'll start our search early in the morning" Artemis said, smiling brightly. With that the hunters quickly finished their dinners and hurried into their tents. Tomorrow was going to be a long day for them.

Artemis was taking a walk late at night, she needed the cool air to soothe her nerves, she was going to do whatever it takes to find Percy. The scent of pine, with fall coming soon Artemis noticed that the scent seemed heavier and stronger. The familiar scents of the forest was intoxicating to her, she started to feel drowsy until she felt a presence in front of her. Quickly she became alerted, she reached by her waist and unsheathed her dagger, silver was the metal of her choice, it was able to hurt both monsters and mortal men. She dashed up towards a tree, waiting for whatever she sensed to come into the opening.

"What are you looking for Arty?" A voice said beside her, Artemis turned quickly, landing a swift kick on it's side, causing the individual to fly off the tree. Artemis soon followed pursuit and pushed her dagger against the individuals throat, until she realized it was Aphrodite. The scent of perfume filled her nostrils, no longer was the scent of pine comforting her, her hands got tangled on a long, puffy, pink frivolous scarf.

"Sorry Aphrodite" Artemis muttered, getting off of Aphrodite. She offered her hand as she looked at the red dress that Aphrodite was sporting, it was rather… _revealing_ to put it bluntly. Aphrodite took her hand and pulled herself up

"So what were you looking for?" Aphrodite asked in her sickly sweet voice, not before brushing the dirt off of her.

"Are you crazy? I felt a godly presence in front of me when Zeus just told us that we're about to be at war once more" Artemis spat, Aphrodite and Artemis weren't exactly friends, to put it lightly. Aphrodite didn't understand why Artemis wanted to be a maiden, and she despised the fact that Artemis was going around preaching and collecting more maidens, It just made her life harder!

"So why are you here Aphrodite?" Artemis asked, wanted this confrontation to be over as soon as possible. "I know that you like Percy" Aphrodite said mischievously

Artemis took a step back, obviously not expecting this conversation to take place. "What..What do you mean?" Artemis stammered, panicking a bit. Her pride was in danger, she had to tread carefully.

"I saw how you were when you were assigned to find Percy, you know. After seeing that I decided to do a little bit of digging in your mind. I know that you love Percy" Aphrodite finished, she was smiling and her voice dripped with a honeyed voice. Artemis' breath hitched, she wasn't going to be able to lie her way out of here, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to try.

"I don't know what you are talking about, why would I love a boy" Artemis puffed, holding her chin up high. Her hands started to shake, she concentrated hard on masking her true emotions, hoping that Aphrodite wouldn't be able to read them.

Aphrodite started to giggle, she cupped Artemis' cheek with her hand and looked into her eyes, silver eyes clashing against soft pink eyes.

"You should know better Artemis, you can't hide love from the goddess of love herself".

Artemis' cheeks became flushed, she slapped away Aphrodite's hand and in an infuriated voice "there must be a mistake, you and I both know that I have sworn off men".

Aphrodite stared at her, and Artemis stared back. There wasn't any way that Artemis was going to stand down. This was her deepest secret, her deepest fear. She didn't want to fall for a man, but love has its own ways. And Aphrodite was the proof of that.

Aphrodite took a step back, she deeply sighed. "I wish that you didn't have to lie to me, I can keep a secret you know" she pouted, her scarf transforming into a blanket to protect her from the cool autumn air.

Artemis slowly walked next to her, soon she reached her and she began to sit down next to her. Artemis knew that she couldn't hide her feelings, how could she? She wished that she was able to broadcast them proudly, but alas, she had a reputation to protect. She was a role model to the hunters, She was able to survive without the need of a man. Artemis summoned a campfire for the two of them. They sat side by side, taking in the heat that protected them from the chilling air.

"Did you do this to me? Force these feelings upon me I mean" Artemis asked, breaking the silence between the two of them. She already knew the answer, but she wished that she was wrong,

"You know that I can't do that to you, I've tried many times but failed each and every time" Aphrodite replied, hugging her knees towards her face. Her voice losing the sickly sweet tone, the repulsive perfume scent disappearing and being replaced by a passive vanilla scent.

"I wasn't able to steal his heart, you know that? I've tried twice to seduce him but each time he turned me down" Aphrodite said, sadness was evident in her voice.

"The first time was when he was a young boy, I changed my appearance to suite him, I transformed into an older Annabeth" She smiled fondly at the memory. Percy was just a young boy, not the man that he later became.

"The second time I tried, I transformed into Annabeth once more, I had perfect blonde hair, my eyes were losing their pink touch. I found it very endearing, this was a love that I had no business in. It was all natural" She hugged her knees tighter. Something wasn't right, Aphrodite wasn't like this, ever. In the rare occurrence that a man denied her, she moved onto the next. Her being caught up like this just wasn't like her.

Artemis looked at her shoulder-length hair. Her red hair was unruly, it never straightened. It had many curls in it and she wondered to herself.

 _Would Percy like me?_ _Maybe I should try to look like Annabeth_

Suddenly, her red hair became blonde, Aphrodite laughed. The sad atmosphere was slowly dissipating.

"He didn't love her for the hair you know? He loved her for who she was" Aphrodite giggled, wrapping her arm around Artemis' shoulders. With a frown Artemis changed her hair back to the red that it was. It was beautiful, her hair that is. She didn't understand why she wanted Percy to love her, these feelings we so unique to her. It was almost like Orion, but deep down she knew that Orion would hurt her. Percy would never hurt her.

"If you don't do anything about your feelings, you should know that I'm going to try to steal him." Aphrodite said. Looking at the campfire that was in front of them. This sudden revelation caused Artemis to stand up, she paled and her heart started to beat fast.

"You can't do that!" Artemis exclaimed, her eyes wide with fear. She couldn't lose Percy to Aphrodite. She wouldn't be able to continue on with herself.

"I can do whatever I want Artemis, I just came here to warn you" Aphrodite replied, standing up and transforming her blanket back into a scarf. Artemis' eyes flashed silver, in an instant a silver blade was pressed against Aphrodite's throat.

"You'll leave Percy alone" She growled, her eyes flared with anger. Percy was one of the two things she will fight for, the others being her hunters. Aphrodite smiled, nodded and flashed away. Aphrodite was back on Olympus, rubbing her throat. _That's the spirit_ she thought to herself. She didn't do anything to Artemis' feelings, these feelings came to her naturally, but she was afraid that Artemis would bury these feelings. Percy has been through a lot, there is a hole in his heart where Annabeth used to reside. He needed someone to close that hole for her, and he made it clear that it wasn't going to be Aphrodite.

Artemis' heart was about to leap out of her chest, her secret was well, not too secret. Aphrodite knew everything. But after their talk tonight, she felt as though Aphrodite can be trusted. Artemis started to head back to the hunter's camp, the cool air hugging her as she looked up towards the night sky, stars shining as she looked at Zoe. _I hope you're happy for me_ she thought to herself. Upon returning to the camp, she saw that none of the campers were outside, they all went back to their tents to get a good night's rest. Artemis smiled, they may have been stubborn but they all listened to Artemis, she wanted what was best for them. Artemis went to her tent that was in the center of the camp, changed her clothes from the traditional uniform to a silver silk night dress. She climbed into her bed with a final thought in her mind, _would he be happy for me?_

 **The Next Morning**

The early morning seemed to be the most difficult part of the day when it comes to the hunters, they were easily irritated and their voices were groggy. Artemis was excited for the journey that was coming.

"My lady, do we really have to find this boy?" Phoebe asked, her shoulders slumping and it appeared that she was ready to fall asleep once more. The other hunters silently agreeing with the question.

"This isn't just any boy you know, It's Percy" Thalia snapped back, her grumpy attitude wasn't taking any disrespect for her friend.

"He isn't just like any man you know, he saved both me and Lady Artemis" Thalia said, her voice nearly monotone. Perhaps she should have letted the hunters sleep a little more Artemis thought to herself. The cool morning air wasn't enough to wake up the hunters, they were dragging their feet in the grass, getting their ankles wet as the morning dew stuck to their clothing. Soon, the trees changed from evergreen to birch and oak, they entered a different forest than the one they were camping in.

"If we are to get to a fight, I hope that you ladies are awake enough to not be an inconvenience if such a situation were to arise" Artemis told them, she was lost in thoughts on how to convince the hunt to give Percy a chance, he wouldn't want to be with them if they were treating him like how they treated other boys. Even if this boy was Percy Jackson, some habits are hard to break. They continued to walk, the orange leaves of the trees slowly falling. This time of year was beautiful. The scenery was something that never changes, no matter what. Through both wars, nature persists in its beauty.

In front of them were scratches on trees, typically this meant animals. But Artemis knew better, it was nearing winter soon and animals wouldn't risk being out during this time of year. It was either made by a predator, or it was made by someone who wanted to be alone. This was promising in her eyes, Percy was able to evade the Olympians for four consecutive months. The forest scent was being masked by a slight scent of smoke, it wasn't very noticeable, but to the hunters who live in the forest for most of their time, this was as clear as day. They all perked up, looking at their surroundings. Artemis looked around and found a snare hidden in a bush, she frowned, _hunters at this time of year?_ Artemis thought to herself. She put up two fingers, her hunt stopped in their tracks, awaiting instructions. Artemis pointed towards 2 trees, and with a bolt of lightning, two groups of twos climbed each of the trees. Artemis then proceeded to signal the rest of the hunters to hide around, behind trees and in bushes. After everything was set she stepped in the snare, it wrapped around her ankle lifting her up high in the sky.

 _This is humiliating_ Artemis thought to herself, keeping her shirt from lifting and revealing her body. "Help!" she shouted out, hoping that the hunter who set the trap would take the bait. She didn't have to wait long though, a tall figure soon appeared, wearing a dark hoodie that magically covered his face. but the presence he omitted was something a mortal could not create. Artemis sharpened her eyes, she knew that she was going to be in trouble if she didn't quickly get out of the snare. She folded her body in half with dagger in hand and started cutting the rope that was attached to her ankle. With a thud she fell on the ground and signaled to her hunters to shoot this individual. She was going to attack first, ask questions later. A sharp _twang_ pierced the air as a silver arrow was flying towards the man. His hands were a blur and in an instant it was in front of his chest, clutching the arrow that Artemis just shot.

From the vibes that she was getting from this guy, she knew that they were going to be in trouble.

"Those in the trees, shoot him! Those who aren't, engage in hand to hand" She commanded the hunt, they followed her words closely. Four hunteresses were shooting arrows rapidly towards the man, while 6 other hunteresses charged him, daggers drawn.

"Woah, I don't want any trouble! Relax!" shouted the hooded man, dodging the blades and arrows at the same time. Thalia came from behind, spear in hand, she thrusts the tip towards the left side of his body. His heart. He quickly spun around, grabbing the spear and disarming her. Artemis panicked, she wouldn't be able to get there in time to save her. Artemis was about to lose her lieutenant.

To her surprise, the man tossed the spear back to Thalia, shocking her as well. He swiftly retreated from the hunt as he pulled out a pen that Artemis has heard about over a million times. Her eyes widen as she watched the man uncap the pen, revealing it to be a sword with a inscription that was all too familiar. _**Anaklusmos**_. Artemis lowered her arms, resting her dagger on her side. _Can this really be Percy_ she thought to herself. She didn't want to bring her hopes up, it's has been so long since she has been able to see Percy.

Suddenly, an arrow bolts past her, planting itself in the man's shoulder, he grunts and falls to his knees, dropping the sword. He grabs the arrow with both hands and snaps it in half, relieving the pressure but still stopping the bleeding. His sword clatters to his side and slowly it transforms back into a pen. Another arrow whizzes by Artemis, going straight for his head.. Time seemed to slow down as Artemis started to sprint towards the unknown man, praying that he would survive. The man moved towards the side in an attempt to dodge the arrow. Instead of being shot in the middle of his forehead, he was clipped on the cheek, the arrow continued through and tore the hood off of his head. Underneath the hood, was a familiar messy black haired man, his piercing green eyes looked around while he pushed his lips together in pain.

"Hey, ladies? Can we like, not do this?" Percy said, in a joking tone. He put his hands up in surrender, it was true that he didn't wish to fight these people, not because he couldn't fight, it was just that he didn't want to hurt them, if he wanted it, the fight would have been over a while ago.

Artemis regained her composure, she cleared her throat before speaking. "Perseus, the council wants to see you" she said with a forced voice. Artemis wanted to cry, she was afraid that Percy would hate her for attacking him.

 **CRACK**. Thunder struck the ground near Percy. Percy paled as he looked at Thalia, she was furious, she stomped towards Percy while lightning crackled around her, striking the trees around her, when she finally reached she recoiled her arm back, and landed a blow on Percy's face.

"How COULD You Percy, for 4 months… we lost her.. And you left" Thalia stammered, unclear on how to to put her thoughts into words. She took a deep breath, her breathing quickened as tear began to form around her eyes. She hugged Percy and whispered "I thought I lost you too Percy, please, don't leave again". Percy was in shock, he felt horrible for what he's done, but didn't regret anything. He wrapped his arms around Thalia and brought her into a hug, whispering soothing words into her ear.

Artemis looked onto the scene, she knew that Thalia had no feelings for the man, but that didn't make her not jealous, she wished that she was there instead of Thalia, the one to be wrapped in Percy's arms "Promise me you won't run away again" Thalia whispered.

"I promise I won't, Thalia. Now can you please move, I was shot by one of you" Percy replied, giving his iconic sheepish smiles. Thalia froze, she finally realized the position she was in, inside the arms of a man. In front to the hunt, and worst of all, in front of lady Artemis herself.

"Sorry" Thalia muttered, slowly moving away from Percy. The hunt all took notice that he was injured, an arrow was protruding from his shoulder, and there was a cut on his cheek. Slowly, and with a scrunched face, Percy pulled out the arrow, he discarded it on the floor as he started to bleed furiously. Artemis started to walk towards Percy and offer him some nectar, he put up his hand signalling her to stop, he closed his eyes and focused hard. Slowly, his wounds started to hiss and steam, eventually becoming nothing.

To say that Artemis was shocked would be an understatement, from what she understood, that wasn't the power of Poseidon, but instead, it was the power of Hestia.

"I take it that you don't need me then, Perseus?" Artemis asked, offering her hand to him. Percy gratefully took her offer and pulled himself up. He fell into a deep bow and replied "Thank you Lady Artemis, but it isn't needed". Artemis' face flushed, she wasn't expecting all of these formalities. She wished that she shared a casual relationship with him, like how he and Thalia were able to comfort each other.

"Olympus wants to see you" Artemis said, after realizing that she was staring at him. He lifted up his eyebrows, "You could've asked for me at anytime, and I would've came you know" Percy replied smoothly, starting to sit down once more. _This is going to be a pain in the ass_ he thought to himself. Suddenly, an arrow whizzes past him. "You do not sit unless Lady Artemis says you do" a hunter hisses, her eyes showing intense hatred. Percy's eyebrows shot up, he didn't do anything to this hunter, he didn't even know her. It concerned him how much someone could hate another without getting to know them. Percy puts his hands up in a surrendering motion.

"I meant no offense, honest!" He says, slowly standing up. Artemis took a deep breath in, this was going to be harder than she expected, she wanted to build a relationship with Percy, but everything she builds gets crumbled down by her hunters. She couldn't tell them to loosen up either, if she did they would get suspicious. Artemis sighed, the trees around her was starting to change colors as negative thoughts began to fill her mind. _What if we could never be together_ she thought to herself, _what if he isn't over Annabeth_?.

"The Olympians can wait, it's been a long day for Perseus" Artemis said, a smile playing on her lips, _tonight, I'm going to get close to Percy, I'm just going to do it_ She thought happily, the hunters on the other hand, were less than thrilled. They moaned and complained, but they knew that no matter what they did, Lady Artemis' word was final.

Together with Percy, the hunt walked towards his camp, it was simple. A tent sitting next to a tree while there was a fire pit in the middle. The hunters looked at this wearily, they weren't sure where they wanted to set up camp, they didn't feel safe to be camping near a _boy_.

"Set up your tents in the usual formation, let's say 30 meters west" Artemis commanded, telling the hunters to create their usual circle camp set-up. The hunters quickly sprang into action, leaving Percy and Artemis alone. _Frickfrickfrickfrickfrickfrickfrick_ Artemis thought, she wasn't expecting to be left alone with Percy so quickly, she wanted more time to plan and think out what to do. "Lady Artemis, why does the Olympians want to speak with me?" Percy asked. Artemis rolled her eyes, "You've been missing for four months, children of Athena were being brought to camp by a hooded man and you ask why we want to speak with you?" Artemis replied, wanting this to be over as quickly as possible. She felt the blood rush towards her cheeks, her face started to heat up. She averted her eyes, refusing to look straight at him.

"We're going to be in trouble, aren't we?" Percy said in a serious tone, looking her straight in the eyes. Artemis wasn't able to hide her shock, did Percy not trust the Olympians, she was sure that they were all concerned for his wellbeing, they didn't just need Percy to be there for every war. They needed Percy to be there to be symbol of hope, telling other half-bloods that they can survive.

"I'm...I'm not sure what you are talking about Percy" Artemis replied truthfully, looking into his eyes. The soft silver eyes made Percy's heart beat ever so slightly faster, he wasn't sure why. "Now get to bed Percy, I'm taking you to Olympus in the morning' Artemis smiled, her innocent smile causing Percy's cheeks to go ever so slightly red. "You called me Percy instead of Perseus" Percy said, a small smile starting to form. "You can call me Artemis, It isn't everyday that I get saved from having to hold the sky you know' Artemis replied, punching his shoulder lightly before sprinting away, leaving Percy alone with his own thoughts.

Artemis was hiding behind a tree near the hunter's camp, her heart was was beating rapidly, her cheeks glowing red. She held her hands on her chest, telling herself to calm down before she can face the hunters. She wished that Percy didn't have this effect on her, she wished that her life could have been much more simple. "Lady Artemis?" A hunter asked, looking at her funnily. Artemis regained her composure, "Get ready for dinner" she told the hunter with a bitter smile, kicking herself for getting caught. The hunter looked at her funny, before finally nodding yes. She was alone once more, wishing that she was instead spending time with Percy. She looked over in his direction to see him starting a fire, he clapped his hands together as flames started to form in front of him, and from the flames came food. _Must be a Hestia thing_ Artemis told herself. She watched him tuck into the rotisserie chicken that he summoned, _so wholesome_ Artemis thought, admiring Percy from afar. She wished that she could just tell him her feelings, wished that all of these stupid problems can just go away.

Soon enough, night time rolled around. The forest was beautiful when it was lit with the moonlight, the orange-red leaves grasping onto the colour perfectly, as if the goddess herself painted them. The strong smell of the woods was soothing, the wind whistling in the leaves, the trees bending ever so slightly against the strength of the wind. Artemis got ready to talk to Percy, to tell him to get ready for the meeting.. The soft crunches of the forest floor was heard as she began to walk towards Percy's tent. The hunters threw a fit before, telling Artemis that they did not want to be so close to a boy, _A man_ she corrected them, earning some strange stares, but she didn't care. She just wanted Percy to be hers, otherwise she'd lose him to Aphrodite. Her curly red hair stuck out from underneath the silver tiara she wore, in the center of the tiara held a red gem, symbol of the hunt. _The gods aren't using you for war, we care for you_ she repeated to herself many times, taking a deep breath before she stepped into his tent. Inside Percy's tent, was.. Well, Percy. But what was odd about this was that he was in the middle of changing his shirt. He stood with a shirt half off, he looked at Artemis before muttering "Hey". Whatever confidence Artemis had was long gone, her eyes were tracing Percy's large biceps, his tone body, his feint 6 pack. She immediately turned red before averting her eyes away from him "Percy, please put on a shirt" She murmured, her heart quickly picking up in pace. Her face heating up from embarrassment.

"Artemis, have you ever heard of knocking?" Percy joked, laughing it off as he put on a shirt. His messy black hair falling over his head, his piercing sea green eyes looking deep into Artemis' silver. Artemis panicked, she wasn't sure what to do in a situation like this. In her many years of existing, she never encountered a problem like this, he didn't look like Orion at all, he looked like a completely different man. "Hello?" Percy said, waving his hand in front of of her face, a single eyebrow raised.

"Sorry, I can't knock on a door when you live in a tent" Artemis huffed, crossing her arms and turning away from Percy. She had a purpose for coming her but she lost it, she wanted to squirm under Percy's intense glare. _I love you_ she wanted to say, she wanted to shout it and let the world know. Percy laughed at her answer, "It's true I guess" he said as he rubbed the back of his head, the awkward silence that soon came unsettled both of them.

"Not that I'm questioning you or anything, but was there a reason why you came here?" Percy asked, breaking the silence. Artemis wanted to slap her forehead, of course she had a reason. "Percy, I wanted you to know that the gods do care about you, we don't see you as a warrior at our disposal. We think of you as the beacon of hope for all half-bloods, you were a key asset to both wars. I think that you are truly the best hero that the world has ever seen" Artemis said, gushing with every word she spoke. Percy looked at her funny, a look of confusion was on his face.

"Um, thanks? I'm not entirely sure I understand what brought this" Percy replied, being truthful to the crimson-haired goddess. Artemis wanted to curl up into a ball and disappear, she thought about the situation that she was in and of course it would be weird, she walked into his tent without any warning, saw him shirtless, then started to praise him. "In our last conversation, you made it sound as if you don't trust us gods" Artemis said, trying to retake control of the situation. Percy looked into her eyes carefully, he was focusing, Artemis could practically see the gears turning inside his head.

Finally, Percy spoke. "I don't exactly trust you gods, there are very few that I can trust in fact. Let's face the facts Lady Artemis, the black flames that killed all the children of Athena at camp, that isn't something a demigod could do, let alone some small time monster. That had to be a god who did that. Why would they do it, I don't know, but I intend to find out. Before I left, I met Hestia, she was there for me when nobody else was. She told me that the fire can take the lives of many, but the same flame is used to keep everyone warm. She took me under her wing and helped me become the person I am today. Hestia told me to find children of Athena, and bring them to camp where they can be somewhat safe, safe from monsters at least. Now onto the case why I can barely trust you. You were sent out to find me, I wasn't doing anything wrong yet you were still assigned to hunt for me. You not only attacked me on site when I showed no intentions of doing so, but now you aren't letting me leave. I asked you if there was another threat coming, and you said no. I felt that you were being honest there, but I'm not sure why you gods want me then." He finished with a blunt tone, looking into her eyes. Percy's eyes looked different now, deep within the sea green eyes that she was becoming familiar with, there was traces of red and yellow, as if magma was threatening to come to the surface. Artemis realized that in the first time of history, Hestia gave her blessing to a hero. Everything was uncharted and Artemis had to make sure that Percy never lost his calm, she wasn't sure what he was capable of. It broke her heart to here him say the words that left his mouth, but she knew that it was true. She did attack him for no reason, and they were attacking him with the intent to kill. Even when it was obvious that he meant them no harm, she never did call off the attack, instead , she got Percy hurt. Whatever relationship she built with him, it burned to the ground once more. Seeing this hatred inside of Percy made her scared, Artemis had no idea what to do to fix this. She wasn't about to force him to Olympus, but at the same time, she didn't wish to disobey the direct orders of the council. She wanted to see Poseidon happy once more, she wanted to show Athena the man that has dedicated the last 4 months of his life into saving her children from monsters and bringing them to the safest place that he knew. She wanted to try to make him trust her, but she wasn't sure on how to do it. In the darkness of the tent Percy did not notice Artemis' face start to turn red, he did in fact notice that she was starting to come closer to him, he took a step back, looking at her with a slight fear in his eyes. He knew that he didn't have anywhere to run, and that if forced to, he would have to fight her. Seeing the fear in Percy's eyes killed Artemis a little bit on the inside. She continued getting closer to Percy, opening her arms and giving him a hug. Percy stood there, not sure what to do. The infamous maiden goddess was giving him a hug when he thought that he was about to fight her to the death.

"I never wanted to hurt you Percy" Artemis whispered to him, her voice cracking and her eyes started to tear up. Percy felt the sincerity in her voice, his harsh words coming back to him. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around Artemis, resting his head on top of her beautiful, curly, red hair. He took a deep breath in, smelling the hints of vanilla and pine. "I'm sorry for what I said Artemis, I know you didn't mean any ill intentions" he whispered into her ear, causing her to shiver. She knew what she was doing was wrong, but she didn't want any of it to stop. She wanted to stay like this for the rest of time. Her dreams coming true. Perseus Jackson was the only man that could occupy her heart, and he didn't even know it.

She felt as though she was in a trance, time seemed to slow down as she started to become comfortable in Percy's arm. "Do you still love her?" Artemis muttered, wondering what his response was going to be. She felt Percy's arms loosen around her, much to her displeasure. He pulled away and looked at her with sorrow in his eyes. "I got to see her, you know." He smiled fondly at the memory. "She told me not to get hung up over her, life goes on no matter what". He sighed deeply, Artemis knew that this wasn't easy for him. He met the love of his life again, and he knew that he couldn't be with her anymore. It must've been heartbreaking. Artemis didn't know what to do, she was always sloppy when it came to relationships, it was shocking how she was even the goddess of childbirth. She decided to make an attempt to comfort him by changing her hair color to blonde, her silver eyes looking slightly more grey now. Percy looked at her with a shocked look on his face, before he let out a laugh.

"What are you doing Artemis?" He said, giggling and holding a strand of her hair in his hands. Artemis flushed with all the attention she was getting, she quickly pulled away from him and looked away. "It's the least I can do for you" Artemis stuttered out, not used to the attention he was giving her.

"You know, I prefer you better before. You were beautiful" Percy said, putting his hand on her cheek He brought her chin up so that he could get a good look at her face. "She never wanted me to be depressed, she wants me to move on. I know why though, she met Luke down there" He dropped his hand, sitting down and stared at the floor.

This was slowly becoming a wreck for Artemis, one second, she made tremendous progress in their relationship, and in another second, Percy is sitting on the floor falling to a dangerous depression. She furrowed her brows, not sure what to do. She turned her hair back to their red color. It was now her turn to put her hand on Percy's cheek, and slowly, she leaned in and kissed him lightly, her soft lips pressing against his. She closed her eyes furiously, not sure if she wanted to see how he reacted.

In Percy's mind, he didn't know what the _fuck_ was happening. One second he was hugging Artemis, then he was horribly sad because he was reminded of Annabeth, then he started to laugh because Artemis tried to _become_ Annabeth, now he was kissing Artemis. He wrapped his arms around Artemis, pulling her into a passionate embrace. He slowly started to pull away from Artemis, he opened his eyes to meet hers. "Was there any particular reason you did that?" he asked. Artemis shook her head, her cheeks a slight pink color. "Did you dislike it?" she whispered to him, worried that she was taking advantage of him. Percy kissed Artemis on the cheek, "did that answer your question?" Percy replied, his sheepish smile on his face.

Distinct screaming could be heard from outside of Percy's tent, Artemis quickly stopped whatever she was doing, drawing her dagger in the meantime. Percy uncapped the sword that Artemis was too familiar with. Together they walked outside to see the hunters camp in shambles, hunters were running around, letting arrows fly towards an unknown force. Together, both Percy and Artemis rushed to see what the commotion was. Inside the center of the hunter's camp was a man with a mask on, the mask had weird markings on it while it brandished horns. The mixture of red and black was unnerving.

"Ah, some real challenge" The man said, his voice deep and smooth. He unsheathed a sword, but to Percy's surprise he watched the man stab the sword into the earth, allowing only the hilt to show. The sword disappeared in a explosion of smoke, causing Percy to sense a feeling of _déjà vu._ He feared that when the smoke cleared, the surrounding area would be encased in black flames. To his pleasure, there wasn't any black flames, but to his displeasure, instead of black flames there were two stone coffins. The front of the coffins started to crack, revealing the bodies of Apollo, and worst of all, Annabeth.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** **A month later, oops. Enjoy.**

Artemis thought that she had the worst luck out of the gods, and the situation they were in was starting to prove that case. She was able to build the relationship that she so ever desired, but it was rudely interrupted because somebody had the audacity to summon the dead and literal gods. The hunters around her were in a state of panic, unsure of what to do. They never had to face the threat of fighting a god, much less an Olympian such as Apollo.

"Apollo?" Artemis asked, a sense of worry filled her eyes. Everything about this figure looked like Apollo, except his pitch black eyes. "Hey lil sis!" Apollo beamed, his smile still ever so bright. Normally, being called "Lil Sis" by Apollo would irk Artemis, but in the current situation, it put her on edge. She wasn't sure what was happening. She drew her bow and took aim. "Apollo, is that really you? Artemis asked, she took a step forward. Apollo's smile fell, his face became blank. He opened his mouth to speak, but the voice that came out was not his.

"I had to take over, it seemed that he was very resilient" the deep and smooth voice said, the black eyes staring into Artemis' silver eyes. Suddenly, Apollo crouched and leaped high into the air, drawing a bow and shooting 3 arrows at Artemis. Her eyes widened as she drew a knife and cut the arrows in half, rendering them useless. She knew that she was going to have to fight, but she wasn't sure how this would affect Apollo, she was stuck in fighting to capture, or fighting to kill. The hunters finally got a grasp on what to do, Thalia pulled out a can of mace that sprang into her electric spear, Phoebe drew her bow and unleashed a slew of arrows towards Apollo who was having troubles dodging them all. Together, both Thalia and Artemis charged at Apollo, weapons drawn. Artemis sweeped at his legs, causing him to leap, Thalia stabbed her spear deep into Apollo's shoulder, causing him to grunt in pain. Thalia pushed the spear all the way through his shoulder, pinning him to a nearby tree. Phoebe shot Apollo in both his knees, causing him to fall. Artemis walked up and put her knife against his throat. She hesitated, sure, Apollo did have the ability to reform over time if she killed him now, but could she do this to her own brother? This hesitation turned out to be a mistake, "Should have killed me when you had the chance" the voice said once more, pulling the spear out and throwing it towards Thalia. The spear went clean through her, exiting the back. Thalia collapsed and did not get up. Artemis became enraged at this sight.

"Phoebe, get her out of here!" Artemis yelled, she was going to kill Apollo, that was for sure. She went for a quick series of jabs, Apollo perrying all of them with his hands. Apollo grabbed Artemis' extended arm, ramming his knee into her elbow, A crunch was heard, along with the clattering of the dagger Artemis dropped.. Artemis winced and fell back, she wasn't expecting Apollo to be this good. The hunters looked at her shocked, they drew their bows and started to shoot at Apollo. Apollo picked up the dagger and deflected some of the arrows, but wasn't able to deflect all of them. One by one arrows started to pierce his body and he was contemplating retreating, but the body was being too weak, he would have to come back stronger. Apollo closed his eyes and released a deep breath, all this progress for nothing he thought. He exploded, covering the surrounding area in black flames.

On the other side of the battlefield, Percy was experiencing something that he would have never been prepared for. He was facing off with the corpse of Annabeth, her hair, her height, nearly everything was the same. The only thing that was different would be the obsidian black eyes that she possessed. His heart clenched, unsure what to do.

"Is that really you Annabeth?" Percy asked, his voice cracking.

"I wish it wasn't, but we just can't have everything that we want" Annabeth replied, a small smile forming on her face The nostalgia was starting to take place, but the underlying theme was evident. Percy was going to have to kill Annabeth.

"I'm so sorry" Percy said, tears beginning to form in his eyes. He walked forward, before full on sprinting towards her. Percy swifty did a overhand swing in hopes to taking out Annabeth in one quick blow. She perried his blade with her dagger, before retaliating with a jab towards his heart.

"No hard feelings Percy, but I swear I didn't do that" Annabeth coughed, hoping to make Percy understand that she wasn't doing intentionally. Percy blocked the dagger, and with his sword he tried to disarm her, only to fail miserably. Objectively, Percy knew that he had to defeat her, but his heart wasn't up to the task. He was struggling to fight someone even though he had the advantage of sword fighting. Percy closed his eyes, suddenly his blade was engulfed in flames, the heat being nearly too intense to handle. He attacked Annabeth once more, but with twice the ferocity. Every time his blade met hers, flames crackled off and formed a spike, stabbing through Annabeth. Soon, the barrage became too much for Annabeth's body, and she collapse to the ground. Percy stopped fighting, he capped Riptide and walked to her side, he sat down and put her head on his lap. His eyes filled with tears once more, soon enough he wasn't able to stop himself from crying.

"I've missed you so much" Percy sobbed, tears falling onto her head. He wasn't able to stop himself from crying, he thought he was over her, but now he had come face to face with her. The first time he lost Annabeth, it was because of a mysterious fire, but the second time he is going to lose Annabeth, was because he had to kill her. Annabeth smiled, she knew that her time was fleeting, it was almost over and she could go back to Elysium where she belonged, and soon she would choose rebirth in hopes of having another life with Percy. Her smile vanished in an instant, her eyes becoming blank once more.

"Ah, the love of youth" a deep, smooth voice said, coming from Annabeth's mouth. Annabeth raised her hand and punched it through Percy's chest, leaving a hole the size of a baseball. Percy looked at Annabeth with wide eyes, the world seemed to slow down around him as he started to become sleepy. The fall colours fading to black and white, the screams of the hunt slowly becoming silent to his ears. Artemis came around the corner to see the horrifying scene. She screamed loudly before rushing towards Percy, not caring about her broken arm. She drew her knife and slit Annabeth's throat, before pulling Annabeth's hand from Percy's chest. Artemis laid Percy on the ground, using her non-broken arm to rip part of her unifor. She rolled up the torn fabric into a ball and attempted to plug the hole, she looked to her hunters who were forming a circle around them. Finally, she shouted some instructions.

"Someone, get me as much water as we have, and get Apollo, we're going to need him" Artemis said, her voice becoming quiet. She was afraid that she was going to lose Percy, she only just got him and it wasn't fair that he was so close to being gone. Her eyes welled up with tears. Thalia was injured as well, she didn't want to lose anyone who was close to her, she wanted to be as selfish as she can. Soon, a blinding flash appeared before her eyes, revealing Apollo once more, but this time his eyes a bright yellow, as if two miniatures suns were encased in his eyes.

"What's the matte-" Apollo cut off, his eyes finally resting on Percy. He suddenly became serious Quickly he began to work on Percy, grabbing water bottles that the hunt provided. Typically, they would be angry that Apollo was in the camp, they could not stand the man after his constant flirting. But the circumstances were different this time, they knew that he was needed.

"What happened?" Apollo asked, his eyes never leaving Percy

"We were attacked" Artemis replied, her voice wavering. She waved a hunter over, and whispered in her ear to bring Thalia and set her next to Percy. The hunter complied, allowing Apollo to treat them both. Apollo quickly set up a tent around them, The privacy was appreciated as Artemis was now able to be fully crying. In front of her eyes was her lieutenant, a hole in her stomach, and Percy, her love with a hole in his chest. Apollo began to submerge Percy in water. His hands began to glow as he put his hand on his patient's chest, slowly the hole began to heal, but it wasn't enough. Artemis was shoving squares of ambrosia in Percy's mouth, but he wasn't able to chew it. She moved his jaws for him but realized that it wasn't fast enough to help. Hesitantly, she put the ambrosia to her mouth and chewed it, she put her lips to Percy and fed it to him that way.

"There are two things that I want to say about that, First, gross. Secondly, you're kissing a man" Apollo said, raising an eyebrow to question her choices. Artemis froze, unsure of what to say. She wasn't thinking, she just wanted to save Percy's life no matter what it took.

"It means nothing, I'm only trying to save the hero who was there for us" Artemis replied, trying to keep her face as neutral as possible.

"I am the god of truth, and I can tell that you're lying" Apollo said, pouring nectar into Percy's wound. Finally, the hole closed fully, but leaving a horrible scar.

"He isn't going to die from bleeding, but he is going to be out for a couple of days" Apollo told her, moving on to helping Thalia. Artemis looked at Percy's unconscious face, _he looks so peaceful_ Artemis thought to herself, he appeared to be sleeping, not recovering from a wound that could have costed him his life. Slowly, she began to feel guilty. Did she have the right to force him to live the cursed life of a demigod? If he were to die, he would've gone to Elysium without a doubt. He would have been happy. No more nightmares, no more being the god's pawn, no more having to watch those he love die in front of him. Artemis may have saved his life, but she may have also caused him further pain.

"I wouldn't worry about it, I'm sure he'd be thankful" Apollo suddenly said, looking at his sister. He was rarely serious, he was known to be the light, playful, and annoying god. The Apollo that was talking to Artemis was someone different though, his eyes were serious and piercing her soul.

"Are you serious about him?" Apollo asked, he looked at her and did not break eye contact. Artemis opened her mouth, but closed it. She wasn't sure what she should say, she knew that was not going to be able to lie to him, and that he'd eventually figure out the truth. But Artemis had a reputation that she needed to keep, and Apollo wasn't exactly known for keeping secrets.

"Yes, I am" Artemis finally said, the truth was what Apollo deserved, he saved her love, and her lieutenant.

"He saved the gods twice, but that isn't why I love him. I love him for a more personal reason, How could you not fall in love with someone who was willing to hold the sky for you?" She said, her eyes started to gloss over as she was lost in her memories. She reached over to Percy, cupping his face in her hand. She ran her move through his hair, finally stopping on a grey streak. She traced her matching grey streak, looking at it nostalgically. At age 14, Percy Jackson was braver than any man she has ever met. Apollo smiled, he hasn't seen Artemis this happy since… well, she hasn't been this happy.

"It looks like you really do love him, I'm glad. I probably won't get him killed like Orion, Probably" Apollo told her, Artemis looked up and glared at him, but before she could say anything, Apollo flashed away. Artemis thought about her twin sibling, was he really fine with them being together? Usually, Apollo would be over protective of her, and that she would have to constantly remind him that she is strong enough to handle her own problems. Apollo was acting weird, perhaps it had something to do with the Apollo that they have just fought? Artemis was deep in thought, she didn't even notice that Thalia woke up and was staring at her while she was playing with Percy's hair.

"Um, M'lady?" Thalia said, her eyebrow raised and her eyes showing signs of confusion. Artemis cussed to herself, she forget that the reason why Apollo was there was because she needed them to be healed, she assumed that Thalia was going to be asleep for a couple of days just like Percy, but their wounds were different from each other.

"Hello Thalia, feeling any better?" Artemis said, pulling her hand away from Percy as a blush creeped onto her face. Thalia didn't know what to say to Artemis, she just watched a god that is known to hate men, play with a man's hair. Slowly, Thalia began to lay back down, and pretend to fall asleep. Artemis really had to resist the urge to facepalm at her lieutenant's tactics.

"I know that you are awake Thalia, you can cut the act you know" Artemis sighed, this was going to be a long , Thalia opened her eyes, she sat back up and winced a little. Seemed like she isn't fully healed Artemis thought to herself.

"Uh, may I ask why you were playing with Percy's hair?" Thalia asked, unsure if she was pushing her limits. Artemis started to think, she hasn't thought about what happens to the hunt once she gets with Percy. Would she have to disband the hunt? Causing them to lose their partial immortality that she promised them.

"It's because I love him Thalia, and I've loved him for a long time" Artemis replied, refusing to make eye contact with Thalia. Artemis preached about how bad men are, and how they will hurt you and that they must not be trusted, but Artemis was going against her own word. Percy started to mutter in his sleep, his words weren't clear enough for either Thalia or Artemis to understand, but they both seemed relieve that he was safe and sound. Thalia didn't know how to react to the news that she was given, she knew that Artemis trusted her enough to tell her this secret, but the secret itself was so foreign in her mind. She looked over to Percy, and saw the hole in his shirt. That must've been where Annabeth shoved her hand through his chest she thought to himself. She began to stand up and Artemis looked at her in surprise.

"Can I hope that you're going to keep it a secret?" Artemis asked, though she already knew the answer to the question.

"Of course I will. Just so you know, the hug I gave him earlier was not me making a move on him" Thalia said, poking fun at Artemis. Artemis took is nicely, she knew that everything was going to be fine in the end. The hunt will understand if she fell in love. Artemis thought to herself, maybe she'll let the hunt find love, no longer be eternal maidens. She had no idea how she was going to bring this topic up to the hunt. Most of them had ill feelings towards men. Artemis even saved some of them directly from men. The idea of Artemis falling in love was absurd, she knew that it was. But her feelings weren't something she can squash, love is something that is meant to be developed, bloom into the full potential. Thalia left the tent, a smile on her face. She knew that Percy was going to be okay, and when he wakes up, he is going to find a loving person beside him.

"How come Lady Artemis is staying in the tent, is she okay?" Asked a hunter, Thalia had to think for a bit, making a valid excuse.

"Lady Artemis is busy making sure that he doesn't die, he is needed by the Olympians" Thalia said, she started to kick herself as she basically said that Percy was being used by the gods, but it was either that or expose Artemis. The hunt seemed content with the answer, but they didn't like all the attention a man was getting instead of them. They were childish in that way. Thalia knew that all men weren't bad, she might even push it and say that men aren't even bad. Of course there would be a few bad apples, but that is with everyone. Thalia joined the hunt for one reason, and that reason was so that she wouldn't be the child of the prophecy, now that the prophecy passed, she regrets being in the hunt. The hunt was filled with man haters, some of them have valid reason to not trust men, but to outright hate people purely because of their sex was absurd in Thalia's eyes. She had a brother for god's sake and she loves him dearly, but the hunt doesn't like that she has a brother, they wish that Jason was dead because he has the audacity to have a girlfriend. Thalia wanted to change the mentality of the hunt, she didn't want to be apart of a group that was anti-men, she wanted the hunt to be a safe haven for women, instead, they have earned the reputation of being a group that bashes men.

"Percy isn't a bad man, I expect all of you to treat him with respect' Thalia said, her eyes sharpening and the threat was loud and clear. This gained a collective grumble from the hunt. Being with a man was already pushing the limits, but staying with a man was taking it too far.

"He is going to be staying with us?" A hunter asked. Thalia knew that she had to word everything correctly, otherwise, Percy would be in danger from the hunt.

"He's hurt, a man or not, we can not deny the fact the we are in his debt. He saved us from the Second Titan War, saved us during the Giant war, and now he saved us from… whatever that was".. The hunt was silent, the eerie quiet was a little too uncomfortable for Thalia. Nervously, she began to tap her legs, looking around not making eye contact with any of the hunters. Soon enough, they began to disperse, they couldn't see any fault. Thalia let out a deep breath, she looked around the camp and took note of the damage that has been done. Trees were still burning with black flames, but they weren't spreading. The places where the bodies of Annabeth and Apollo exploded left a crater, inside the crater were more of the black flames, burning furiously but under control.

The air clung to Thalia's body, her breath was visible against the bright contrast of the setting sun, the orange, purple, and pink mixed together with stars making their appearance was breathtaking. Thalia wished that she lived a simple life, she wished that she didn't live the life of a demigod. She just wanted to be able to enjoy the simple things in life, have a family in where she doesn't worry if they would survive the next day, not have any godly conflicts, didn't have to worry that there was a hole in her friend's chest… Thalia stopped walking when she was in front of the tree where Artemis triggered Percy's trap, the snare that lifted her up was lying on the ground as Artemis has cut herself free from it. The fight between the hunt and Percy was less than a day ago, but to her, it felt as if it were months. Thalia smiled, the fact that they were able to find Percy warmed her heart, her friend has returned to them.

Her eyes were on the snare, on closer inspection she noticed that something was off. The snare wasn't meant for small animals. That was for certain, it was too large. But at the same time, it was too small to be for deer or any other large animal, the snare was perfect to catch… humans. Thalia took note, she knew that she was going to have to bring this up to Percy. The more she thought about the situation, the more weird it became, why was Percy camping in a makeshift area? Why didn't he take refuge in the mortal world, the gods wouldn't have searched for him there. Percy was smarter than he let on, Thalia knew that just from being his friend, the hunt realized that fact after he destroyed them in combat. Something dark lingered inside of Percy, something that he was hiding.

X

Artemis hasn't left Percy's tent in 3 days. She was the one to take care of him. Artemis looked as Percy laid silently on his bed, his chest rising and falling with every deep breath he took. She was beginning to become worried, for Percy hasn't woken up yet.

"Lady Artemis?" Thalia said, poking her head into the tent. Artemis looked at Thalia, nodding at her to signal that she may come in. Thalia walked in and looked around, it was very gloomy, the lack of light made Artemis' silver eyes dim, the atmosphere in the room was dreadful. Thalia took a deep breath, the musk of Artemis and Percy was almost unbearable, it was evident that they haven't taken a bath in the 3 days since the incident. In the center, was a smoking fire pit, it was obvious that Artemis hasn't left his side.

"I wanted to talk to you about something" Thalia finally said, a puzzled look took over her face. Artemis made eye contact with her, a questioning look telling Thalia to go on.

"It's about Percy, I couldn't help but think about the odd situation that he was in when we found him. This forest, it's pretty isolated, I know that he's been trying to hide from everyone, but if he wanted to truly hide, he would've resided in the mortal world, somewhere smart like that. Remember that snare that you got caught in? It was too big to be for a small animal, but too big to be for a larger human, it was just the right size for a human. Isn't it a little weird" Thalia finally finished, she held this information for days without telling anyone and she felt relieved that she was able to get that off her chest. She trusted Percy with all her life, but this Percy was a whole new person.

"His abilities too, the lightning coming off his sword wasn't from me, that was from him"

Artemis took this information and looked at Thalia thoughtfully, in truth, Artemis had no idea what all of this meant. What she was truly worried about was that there was a threat to the gods, and the gods want Percy to help them. Artemis wanted to hide Percy from the gods, he's done enough for everyone already in his lifetime. All the gods and goddesses looked sad that Percy was gone, but Artemis was smarter than that, she knew that they just wanted to use him, they weren't truly sad about Percy being missing, they were sad that their hero was gone. Once Percy died, they would mourn for a few days, shrug, then move on to the next hero. This cycle repeated for milenia. Artemis took a closer look at the hero of Olympus, his messy hair covering his eyes, his face was relaxed and with every breath that he took Artemis' smile widened.

Artemis' smile wavered however, she took a closer look at Percy and noticed that something was… off. His aura of the ocean breeze was no longer with him, but instead, the aura was replaced with a darkness that she could not explain. He felt powerful, too powerful. Artemis was afraid that Zeus would see him as a threat. This dark aura around Percy remineded Artemis of Kronos, back in the second titan war. How did she not notice this before?

"Y'know, you can stop staring" Percy said, his eyes not opening, a smile started to form on his face To say that Artemis and Thalia were shocked was an understatement

Artemis snapped out of it first. She walked up to Percy who was sitting up now, Percy braced for impact. He was ready to get hit for all the pain that he has caused her. Instead of being hit though, Artemis wrapped her arms around Percy, pulling him into a hug. Slowly, Percy wrapped his arms around Artemis, they sat together enjoying each other's presence.

"I thought I lost you" Artemis whispered in his ear, Percy took a deep breath, inhaling her scent. The pine, the soft fall air, the scent that he would never forget.

"I thought I lost you" Artemis repeated, pulling herself from Percy's arms. She looked at him with a look of fury, she raised her hand and punched Percy on the shoulder. Percy rubbed his shoulder a joking look on his face, a smile still on his lips.

"It's nice to know that you worry about me" Percy said, he slowly started to lean in, closing his eyes and touching her lips softly with his.

"Um, I'm still here you know" Thalia said, covering her face with her hands in embarrassment, all the previous tension disappeared, Thalia was glad that she still had her friend. Percy laughed, a sound that both Thalia and Artemis found comforting.

"How are you feeling? Are you feeling hurt? Do you need anything? How are you feeling mentally?" Thalia asked, shooting questions non-stop. Percy raised a questioning eyebrow, raised his hand to silence her, and then flicked her forehead lightly., Thalia winced but smiled at the silly gesture.

"I'm doing fine, I'm not hurt or anything. I actually feel amazing" Percy said standing up on his feet to prove a point. At the moment that he was on his feet however, the air inside the tent seemed to have dropped a couple of degrees, on the back of Percy's hand, a faint purple glow appeared in the shape of a triangle, not too big, though, it was still noticeable. At the glow both Thalia and Artemis looked at Percy with a questioning face. They both seemed to remember the conversation that they were having before Percy decided to "wake up". Percy wasn't happy that he let that slip, he knew that he should have been smarter, this was a situation that he didn't want to go through, during the time when he was "missing" Percy knew that he had to make drastic changes. And because of Thalia, these changes were going to come to light.

"Percy… how come you're out in the forest alone?" Thalia finally asked him, the silence between the three of them being too unbearable. Percy sighed, he sat down on the bed that was situated in the middle of the tent.

"It's going to be a long story, and at the end of it, you'll more than likely see me in a different light" Percy told them with a look of warning in his eyes. Thalia and Artemis didn't reply, instead they nodded their heads urging Percy to go on. He took a deep breath before continuing on his story "After the situation at camp, I knew that I wasn't strong enough. I needed to be alone and to figure out what to do. Those dark flames… the gods haven't even seen them before. What we are dealing with, it's something entirely new. The solutions we have currently will not be able to solve the problem that we have at hand. That guy that we fought today? He was able to summon the dead and Olympians to fight us. We're screwed unless we do something that hasn't been done before. I talked to Hecate, and she told me about these rituals that I can do, but they need a Sacrifice" Thalia suddenly cut Percy off. She looked absolutely horrified of the words that were coming out of Percy's mouth. "You killed someone for personal gain?" She stammered, unable to cope with the idea of Percy murdering someone for what may have been the greater good. "No, heck no Thalia, you know that I wouldn't do that. I sacrificed something that was important to me, my blood." Percy said, appalled that Thalia would even suggest the even idea. Artemis seemed confused, she didn't understand what Percy mean when he said that he sacrificed his blood. "So you don't have any blood anymore? Are you a vampire or something" She said jokingly, poking Percy on the cheek with her index finger. Percy looked at her seriously, his playful mood disappearing. "No, I still have all my blood, or well, my physical blood. I sacrificed my godly blood I guess, I don't think i can be classified as a Son of Poseidon anymore" Percy finally finished. To say that Thalia and Artemis were confused was an understatement. "Does this mean that you are no longer a demigod?" Artemis asked, Percy shook his head.

"It's hard to explain, I'm still a demigod, but I have no relations to any god or goddesses. I no longer have my power over the ocean, I know that for sure, the only power that I have would be coming from Hestia's blessing. But just because I lost my other powers, doesn't mean that I am now useless. These rituals made me stronger, I would say that I'm about the strength of an Olympian, stronger than even Zeus. I can move faster also, that is how I was able to disarm you in our fight by the way Thalia, no matter what you hunters did, I wouldn't have lost". Thalia did not appreciate that, she instantly brought her fist towards Percy's face, trying to land a strike against him, but to both her and Artemis' surprise, Percy moved his head out of the way, in an instant he was on his feet and in front of Thalia. He used his leg in a backwards sweeping motion, tapping against her head at the same time, causing Thalia to fall down. Artemis was truly shocked, her eyes weren't able to keep up with Percy's movements, even to her, an Olympian, Percy just seemed to disappear and reappear in an instant.

"Are you sure that wasn't some teleportation trick that you used there Percy?" Artemis asked, unwilling to believe that Percy used such a dark ritual in order to achieve this strength.

"Yep, I pinky promise you that I didn't use any trick there, I was going half my potential speed" Percy replied, offering his pinky to Artemis. Artemis blinked, her eyes are blank and she stared forwards, reluctantly giving Percy her pinky. They interlocked pinkies, and Percy smiled. _At least he is the same old person_ Artemis thought to herself. Thalia was sitting on the floor, _half his potential_ she thought to herself, in her eyes, Percy was suddenly standing and that she was on the floor. Why exactly was this ritual hidden?

"Another thing Percy, how come you are able to control lightning?" Thalia asked, still confused on how Percy was able to have an ability to cause lightning to stab the body of Annabeth during their fight. At this statement, Percy looked a little solemn, he was still hurt that he was forced to fight the woman he used to love.

"I don't have control over lightning, that's still a you thing" was his response, "I just clashed my sword against her dagger, and there was a spark. So with that I moved as fast as I can do amplify the lightning and direct it towards her, I didn't need to do that. I was just being extra" Percy said, scratching the back of his head and releasing a nervous laugh. Thalia looked at him in disbelief, the lightning that was the deciding factor didn't come from any magical blood or ability, it was purely physical. Artemis frowned, for some reason she didn't believe what Percy was saying

"Thalia, can you leave Percy and I alone?" Artemis said, waving Thalia to go away. Thalia nodded, she stood up and left the tent, leaving the two to be alone.

"What's the matter?" Percy asked, his eyes showing slight concern towards Artemis, this caused her frown to worsen. "I've been alive for as long as civilization existed Percy, you should know that what you've done was very dark and borderline evil" Artemis explained to Percy. In reality, Artemis wasn't angry with Percy for doing this ritual, she was instead afraid that she'll lose Percy to Zeus because of the power gained, Zeus would deem Percy too powerful to be allowed to time however, it was Percy who was frowning, Artemis' heart skipped a beat, did she say something wrong?

"Nothing in this world is inherently dark or light, good or evil, it is about our intention" Percy stated, his eyes losing their sea-green shine. Artemis pondered on what he said, what he said was true when you get to the foundation of it. An animal will kill another, but does that make it evil? The ritual that Percy has done wasn't evil, but it had evil potential.

"I can see what you mean, but is it really true that you no longer have Poseidon's blood inside of you?" Artemis asked, regardless of the answer, she would love Percy the same.

"Unfortunately so, but it really doesn't matter. I'm not too sad about it" he replied, staring at the palm of his hands. "I can't even feel the water inside of my body, let alone the water around me". There was a hint of sadness in his voice, something that Artemis hated. She slowly made her way towards Percy, wrapping her arounds around his chest, "water powers or not, you're still Percy Jackson" she whispered in his ear soothingly. She took a deep breath, inhaling Percy's scent. It was no longer the sea breeze, but instead it was a deep scent, reminded her of cinnamon, she wasn't quite able to place her finger on what it was, It was something _manly_. _I like this a lot better_ she decided.

"What are we?" Percy whispered, his feelings spiraling out of control. Artemis pondered on the question, she never quite did tell him how she felt, she just started to kiss him, and he _took_ it. Did this means that he loves her back? Or does this mean that he is messing with her feelings?

"What do you want us to be?" Artemis replied, her voice very soft. She raised her eyes, silver clashing against the pale dark brown eyes, wait, _dark brown?_ Artemis pushed herself away from Percy, his eyes widening in confusion. "What's wrong?" He asked, grabbing her hand and holding it. "Your eyes Percy, they aren't green anymore!" Artemis exclaimed. Percy began to laugh, causing her to look at him surprised. "Seems like I for sure lost all connections to my dad" he replied with his sheepish grin. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, releasing it and reopening his eyes. "I do feel significantly better though" He said.

"Now back on topic, this isn't something that we're going to avoid. What do you want us to be?" Artemis asked once more, pressing on the topic further. Percy didn't look uncomfortable, but he stared off into the distance. "I don't know what I want us to be in all honesty, but I know one thing for certain. I want you to be mine" Percy decided. At this answer, Artemis was gleaming with happiness. Percy smiled at the excitement that she was showing. Percy brought Artemis into a hug until he pulled back and looked into her eyes,. Slowly, he leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers once decided that this is how she liked being with Percy, inside his arms and constantly kissing him. "I have quite the reputation you know, I'm not just going to be able to tell everyone that I have a boyfriend" Artemis said, a smile playing on her soft lips. Percy laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "That is something that I can live with, as long as you promise that you're mine and mine only". Percy told her

"I haven't had a lover since Orion, and that was thousands of years ago" She replied, "Do you take me as an easy person?" She frowned her eyes jokingly, she poked his cheek with her finger, the aggressive actions however were counteracted with the smile that was on her face Percy thought about it for a second.

"Of course you are, everyone who leaves you just becomes a jackalope so they aren't able to tell the story" Percy replied cheekily, a smile played upon his face. Artemis didn't like that response, she pouted and playfully shoved Percy away from her, slowly a smile played her face. _I like the look of her smile, I think I'm going to make that my goal, to keep her smiling_ Percy thought to himself. He stuck out his tongue in a playful manner, and Artemis returned the gesture Slowly, Artemis began to tone down. A thought occurred to her, she hasn't talked to Percy about the traps, surely he heard Thalia talking about it beforehand?

"I wanted to ask you about the snare that I was caught in Percy" Artemis said, Percy looked slightly uncomfortable at this topic, it was something that he wanted to avoid and hoped that she forgot.

"I'm sorry that I hid it well enough for you to get caught in it?" Percy said jokingly, he didn't forget what happened that day. The day that he was attacked by Artemis and the hunt.

"You can create your own food out of fire, yet you lay down traps too small for a dear, yet too big for a rabbit. Care to explain? Artemis asked him, raising a questioning eyebrow

"Simple, I didn't want anyone to disturb me" Percy replied smoothly, hoping that she wouldn't push further on the topic, but unlucky for him, Artemis urged him to go on.

"And what happens if someone were to get caught on the trap? Would you have just let them go, or would you have killed them?" Artemis asked, looking deep into Percy's dark brown eyes. Percy thought about it for a moment. _What would he have done?_ He knew for sure that he wouldn't have let them go, that would've told the gods where he was, and that would have been too much trouble for him. He wouldn't have killed them though, they could have been innocent people that had no idea about him. "I would have just left them hanging" Percy replied after deep thought. Artemis continued to look at him with her piercing silver eyes. "You would have left them to die then?" She finally said.

Percy at this pointed crossed his arms over his chest, it was evident that he didn't want to continue this topic, but she was relentless, she kept on pushing this topic. "Everytime you guys needed me, we were at war. Would it have been bad that I left them to die? Would you hate me for it? Would you despise my mere existence because I've killed people before?" Percy spat at her finally, venom laces in his voice. Artemis looked as if she was slapped. She didn't know that this was something that Percy wasn't comfortable talking with. She sat down and motioned for Percy to join her in the middle of the tent. Percy looked at her with cold eyes, it broke Artemis' heart that she caused him this pain. Percy walked around the tent, lighting lanterns to keep them warm, it appeared as thought he believed that they were going to be talking for a long time.

"Have you killed someone before?" Artemis asked him, her voice very soft. Percy met her eyes, he kept the contact for a few seconds before breaking it. He let out a deep sigh, he was hoping that he would never have to tell this story. "These rituals… they aren't magic, they come from Hecate, her blessings allow for you to be able to use these rituals. I've only used one so far, to increase my speed and strength" Percy started, Artemis was on the edge of her seat, she was worried with the direction that this story was going. "And to be able to get her blessing, you have to sacrifice something, and what she wanted was a human soul" Percy finished, he choked on his words, "It had to be a demigod, he was under my care. He was very sick, he had a poisoned wound. I thought nectar would do the trick, it usually does. But it was cursed, he was bound to die. When he was sleeping, he would often cry during his sleep. I killed him Artemis, I killed him in his sleep" he spoke these words with a quiet voice, his expression was unreadable. Artemis thought about what Percy told her, he murdered someone innocent for personal gain. What really troubled her was the fact that she didn't care that he did, what mattered was that she was with him, and that he wasn't going to be missing anymore.

"I don't hate you for that Percy, I'm not going to tell you that what you've done was the right choice, but you're right. We're at war right now, sometimes, sacrifices are needed" Artemis said slowly, "What I need to know, is if you're planning on doing more rituals".

"Why? So that you can turn me in to Zeus?" Percy said, his eyes hardening.

"No, so that I can make sure that you're safe. I'm not going to pretend that I understand what these rituals mean, or how to do them. But I assume that you're going to need more sacrifices. I don't care if you kill another person. Just let me by your side. I'm here forever" Artemis said, she slowly came closer to Percy, they made eye contact before Artemis buried her head into his chest, Percy wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her closer to him.

"I'm sorry that I hid this from you, from now on I'll be transparent with you, okay?" Percy whispered into her hair.

"You promise?"

"I promise".

"When are you going to be performing the next ritual? Will you even be performing another ritual?" Artemis asked her, raising her chin to meet his eyes. Percy pondered on the question for a few moments, before finally nodding his head.

"I will be performing another ritual, I will not let his death be in vain. This ritual shouldn't be too dangerous though, I'm only going to have to sacrifice about 2-3 litres of my blood" Percy replied, Artemis looked at him with an astonished look on her face. " _Only 2-3 litres?"_ She hissed at him. Percy at least had the decency to step back and rub the back of his head with his sheepish grin on his face. "That is most of your blood!" Artemis nearly shouted at him, but Percy's smile never wavered. "It's to make me immune to most poisons and venoms" Percy said, "I am going to need every edge I can get during this war. That guy with the mask, he isn't normal. Surely you've noticed that too?" Percy asked Artemis. She didn't want to admit it, but that man scared her. He was almost able to claim the life of Thalia and Percy. Artemis nodded her head in agreement with Percy's statement. He was going to need every advantage he could get, even though she didn't like it, she knew that there wasn't anybody who could save the world quite like Percy could.

"At least let me help you with this ritual, just to make sure you don't die" Artemis said. Percy raised an eyebrow, he thought what Artemis has said was adorable, but how would she be able to help him? "Unless it's one of your powers, I doubt that you're going to be able to find me 5 litres of blood to be safe" Percy replied, Artemis frowned, she punched him on the chest in a playful manner. "Then what is your plan smart one?" Artemis asked, Percy's eyes went cold, and Artemis dreaded the answer.

"I'm going to go to a mortal hospital and steal it" Percy said. He hoped that his answer wasn't going to make Artemis hate him, he wasn't sure why, but he needed her more than ever. Not for stealing, or for her goddess status. But for the fact that he knew that he _loved_ her.

Artemis raised her eyebrow. Stealing? Really? She thought to herself, in all honesty she thought that Percy was going to just go on a killing spree, stealing blood from others. She wouldn't have disagreed with him if that was the case, she was on his side.

"In that case, let me help you, I'll be able to manipulate the mist so that you won't have to go on a killing spree" Artemis said. Percy smiled, he was grateful that Artemis would stand by his side, he really felt the love for the first time in what felt like years to him. Percy looked at Artemis, he smiled and she returned the smile. He stroke her hair before landing on a familiar grey streak, he remembered that day when he held the sky for her, just so that she would be able to fight Atlas and save them. His eyes softened, he then remembered Zoe, and her honorable sacrifice so that they would be able to complete the quest. He remembered how worried he was when Annabeth was in danger, but now he doesn't have her, instead, he has Artemis. And he couldn't be happier.

"Percy, I'm sorry for ruining the mood, but I need to remind you that we need to go to Olympus. In their eyes, you're still missing" Artemis spoke, a look of regret in her eyes. She wanted to stay with him all day and night, Percy thought about it for a second, he could probably run away and outrun the hunt, but that would mean that he would leave Artemis again. A question rose into Percy's throat, he blurted out the question before he was able to censor himself. He cursed, surely this would turn out wrong?

"Are you willing to leave the hunt for me?"

The question rang around the tent. Percy kicked himself, how could he be so stupid and selfish? Of course she wouldn't leave the hunt, she was literally the goddess of the hunt! He knew that their relationship was going to be problematic, he wanted to be selfish and keep Artemis all for himself, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to fight the war his way with the hunt tagging along, they wouldn't approve of his ways. If the gods were light, and the opposite force was dark, then he'd lay somewhere on the grey zone, he wasn't purely evil, but he was willing to do things the light wouldn't dream of doing.

"Yes"  
Her answer stayed in his mind, _she was willing to leave the hunt behind for him?_ "You musn't Artemis, they are yours! You are the Goddess of the Hunt, not the Goddess of Percy Jackson!" Percy exclaimed. Artemis laughed, that soft cute laugh that she had made Percy calm down, he loved the sound that she made, her genuine happiness was something that Percy had to keep in mind. He wanted to be the source of that laugher.

"You may not be my domain, but I am for sure your goddess"

"My My… Did my lady just flirt with me?" Percy said with raised eyebrows, he wasn't expecting that from her, she looked so innocent in her eyes, but after what she said, she was no longer innocent.. _She was sexy_.

"And if I did flirt with you?" She asked, putting her hands behind her back and going on her tippy toes, feigning innocence. He couldn't stand it anymore, he pressed his lips against hers, the softness, the sweet taste, this was something that he could never forget. They closed in together, they were very close to each other. Artemis put her hands on Percy's chest, she felt how muscular he was, she felt his heartbeat through his shirt. Slowly her hands crawled upwards, until they ended in his hair, she began to run her hands through his hair wildly, soon enough the the intense passion was too much for them, they took it to the bed where they continued. Artemis pushed her luck, she pressed her tongue against his lips, hoping that he would allow access. But to her surprise, Percy's tongue pressed back, soon enough they wrestle for dominance, the heat that they were in showed no interest in disappearing anytime soon. Percy's tongue was defeated soon enough, allowing Artemis to explore his mouth, she rubbed her tongue against everything, his cheeks, teeth, and eventually tongue. Percy's hands began to travel around her body, from her waist, to her bottom, to finally her chest. Artemis let out a moan of pleasure, but Percy knew that what he was doing was wrong. He pulled away from Artemis who gave a disappointed look.

"Shouldn't we be going to Olympus?" He said, panting slightly. Artemis raised her eyebrow, _he was concerned about going to Olympus rather than doing stuff with me?_ She thought to herself.

"That can wait till the morning, don't you agree? She replied, biting her lip. She felt as thought she was losing her mind. She wanted Percy, and she wanted him _now_. To her relief, Percy nodded his head. He stood up and began to walk away.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I'll find another tent, you can stay here" He replied, Artemis rolled her eyes, she fell in love with this moron?

"No you're not, you're staying the night with me" She purred, waving her finger, enticing Percy to come to her. Percy gulped, it was going to be a long and beautiful night.

X

Artemis woke up with a familiar arm on her waist. She smiled as she remembered what happened last night, the happiness that he was able to provide her. She wanted to stay in bed all day, but she knew that there were things they had to do today, they would have to talk to the council on Olympus about the upcoming war. Percy stirred in his sleep, he woke up to find himself looking into silver eyes, he smiled and leaned in for a kiss, pressing his lips against hers, the softness caused warmness to spread within him.

"Sleep well babe?" Percy asked her, his smile melting her heart. _Babe?_ Since when did he call her babe? Artemis thought to herself. It was something that she wasn't used to, but it was something that she could definitely get used to.

"I slept amazingly well thanks to my pillow" She replied, patting Percy's arm that was under her neck. He rolled his eyes, but he couldn't stay looking annoyed. A smile began to play on his lips before he was full blown smiling. "Shouldn't we get ready to go to Olympus?" He asked her, she huffed before putting her back towards Percy. _Did I say something wrong?_ Percy thought to himself. She snuggled into Percy's arm, _I guess not_ he thought, he was interrupted by Artemis saying "Can we just go tomorrow, I like the way we are right now". Percy smiled, his life took a drastic turn in the last few days. He was found by the hunt, attacked by the masked man, and fell in love. Percy began to frown, it was killing him on the inside that he was hiding something from Artemis. He has done another ritual, one that he didn't tell Artemis. He has sacrificed his blood before, 2 liters of it. That would explain his minor healing abilities. He was able to heal light scratches and cuts, minor burns. But the hole that was in his chest? That was way too much for him to handle. He was going to have to do the second part of the ritual that would allow him to heal his major wounds, but the sacrifices were hard to get. Not only would he have to sacrifice a great deal of blood, but he'd have to sacrifice something valuable to him, it would be his sword in this case. Artemis wouldn't like that, it used to belong to Zoe, her long time friend.

Percy was snapped out of his thoughts by Artemis shifting on his arm. He put his chin on her head and brought her closer to him. He leaned into her ear and whispered into it.

"I'd love to stay here all day with you, but we have plans" He whispered, stroking her hair with the arm she wasn't lying on. Artemis shivered at the physical contact that he provided. She loved the way that she melted in his hands. She truly did love him. Artemis started to get up from the bed, she twisted her back and began to stretch, the pops and cracks of her body echoed in his ears. Artemis looked at Percy, the question didn't need to be spoken. _Are you ready to talk to the council?_ He smiled in return, his smile radiated confidence. He wasn't afraid of what was to come, he just wanted to live a peaceful life.

"Lady Artemis?" Thalia asked, poking her head into the tent that the two were resting in. When she caught sight of Artemis and Percy, Thalia's face started to glow red, she wish she didn't have to be the one to hide the relationship from the hunt. All night she was making excuses for them as they were being reckless, talking loudly before Thalia smartly ushered the hunters away from the campsite, giving the two the privacy they so desperately needed.

Of course though, Thalia's life would never be that simple. She closed her eyes immediately and covered them with her hands, she asked them a question that questioned the integrity of both Percy and Artemis.

"Are you both decent?"  
Both of them flushed at the question, perhaps they were being too loud last night?

Thalia looked at the two and was relieved to see them fully clothed. She didn't want to see too much of them, it would've probably scarred her for life. Thalia let them sleep in, thought, it was probably a bad idea. Percy was basically wanted by Olympus, and each day they procrastinate the more anxious the council gets. Apollo might've informed the council what has happened, but she doubted it. It wouldn't look good on him when he tells them that he essentially fought against Artemis. There was so many questions that didn't have any answers. She knew that this war was going to be messy. She wish she didn't have to deal with any of this. Percy turned towards Artemis, he showed her his iconic sheepish grin.

"We should probably get to Olympus, huh?"

Artemis looked back at him, but before she said anything Thalia butted into the conversation

"The hunt is very anxious, we haven't been doing anything while we were waiting for the two of you to finish god knows what"

Both Artemis and Percy flushed at that statement. They both spent the night with each other, their musk filled the room, though, if you were to ask them, they did not regret it one bit. Artemis was the first to recover. She had a thoughtful look on her face. She shook her head though, it seemed that whatever she was thinking would not work.

"I'm sorry Thalia, but it would seem as though I don't have anything for you guys to do. Just stay put, We'll be leaving for Olympus soon. Afterwards, we'll figure something out"

Thalia didn't seem to like that answer, but she knew that she didn't have a choice in the matter. She stiffly nodded her head before leaving the tent, allowing Percy and Artemis to be alone once more. They looked at each other before Percy let out a deep sigh.

"It's time isn't it?"

"Time for what?"

"Time for us to go to Olympus and talk about, well, me"

Artemis saddened by his words. She wished that the world didn't depend on him so much. She wanted to be able to keep him for herself. In a way, she wished that he was a normal mortal, for he wouldn't have to be living the cursed life of a demigod.

"It is time for us to go to Olympus, sadly, we've put it off for a little too long"

Her eyes showed a great deal of sadness. It appeared as though she didn't want to go to this meeting as much as he didn't. Percy stood up and started to head out the tent, he stopped abruptly and turned suddenly. In an instant he appeared in front of her and captured her lips with his, she kissed him back with the same gentleness that he started with. Slowly, Artemis pulled away, a frown on her face.

"Was I that bad of a kisser?" Percy asked her, a twitch in his lips signifying that he found the situation amusing.

"Quite the contrary really, but we need to stop delaying this" She replied. She grabbed his hand and walked out of the tent. Next stop, Olympus.


End file.
